Ornament Tag

As the weather forecast threatens a cold, arctic blast in Chicago, thoughts go to the Christmas season. Today I am sharing a CAS Christmas tag. The tag was die cut from green cardstock. The ornaments (Our Daily Bread Designs) were stamped on white card stock and heat embossed. Then they were die cut using Spellbinders dies (available at Classy Cards n such). "Peace on Earth" was stamped on the tag and embossed in silver.
I am entering this tag in these challenges:Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- ornaments;
Classy Cards n Such -- ornaments; Word Art Wednesday -- anything goes; Marks Finest Papers Friends of Speedy -- red, gold, green; Our Daily Bread Designs -- holiday; Addicted to CAS -- tag; Inspiration Journal -- happy holidays; Artistic Stamper -- Christmas is coming.

Trick or Treat

Tomorrow (Friday) is Halloween. I thought I'd share one more Halloween card. I started with a great piece of designer paper. I pulled out several sets of Halloween stamps from Artistic Outpost. I couldn't let the holiday go by without using the dapper skeleton all dressed up in his formal finest. I wanted to mask him, but he is quite skinny and difficult to cut out. Then I remembered that I had a jar of Masking Friskit. It was the perfect answer to mask my bony friend. I used a white gel pen to highlight his bones. The haunted mansion is another of my favorite stamps, along with the colony of bats. (Yes, that's what a group of bats is called.) Halloween was stamped in orange. The 'Trick or Treat" sentiment block is a part of  a larger stamp. I stamped it and then heat embossed it and cut out the part I wanted. Halloween Kisses--my treat to you!
Since this is the week and month of Halloween, there are a number of challenges met by my Halloween card: Tuesday Throwdown -- dressed up-costume; Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- treats; Sweet Stamps -- Spooky; 3 Muses -- Take Fright; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge -- anything goes; Marks Finest Papers Simple Salutations -- Boo to You; Inspiration Emporium -- In Disguise; Art With Heart -- Tricks or Treats; Artistic Outpost -- anything goes with Artistic Outpost stamps.

Happy Halloween

Please don't think me weird, but I'm in a happy place because I am making Halloween cards this year. I'm not really a Halloween fanatic, but I love the fun that surrounds this holiday. As you may recall, last year I had health issues all during the fall season. I had new Halloween stamps and dies, but could never use them. This year I'm in the fun Halloween zone.
The base card is kraft cardstock. I then used a pewter backing panel. The background is orange cardstock with spider webs die cut from the pewter cardstock. The Halloween wreath and raven are cut from dark brown cardstock. The sentiment panel is orange cardstock with the sentiment in deep purple. All of the die cuts are done with Cheery Lynn dies.

I am entering my card into these challenges: Cheery Lynn Designs -- Halloween; Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- falling in love...with Halloween die cuts; Kraft Journal Monday -- no pattern paper; and SweetStamps -- dies.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

This dreamy card was a lot of fun to make. I started with a piece of printed cardstock and a piece of pink vellum paper (both from club Scrap) to use a s my background. I stamped the fairies (Stampland) directly on the vellum and colored them with distress markers. I love how the background images show through the vellum. The sentiment (Stampsmith) was stamped on a scrap of white cardstock and adhered to a backing panel. Everything was adhered to a white card base. The sparkly buttons were added to give a dreamlike appearance.
My card is being entered into these challenges: Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge -- a mid-summer's challenge and Ink on my Fingers Sunday Challenge -- in dreams.

Life

The current Compendium of Curiosities challenge was more than just an art challenge for me this time. I had to actually go into my stash of treasured Tim Holtz products and use product that I have been "saving for the perfect occasion". The current challenge is to create an altered burlap panel (p. 37 of Tim's book) Of course, I had to get the burlap panels when they came out, but I never had the nerve to use them or it was never the right time. As I went along, I was also inspired to use other precious product.
Although I won't go into detail on the actual technique of altering the panel, that's what Tim's book is for.  There are a few embellishments on my panel I'll talk about. My butterfly girl comes from an Artchix image. Her wings were die cut from Tim's Fanciful Flight die. The upper part of the wings was cut from grunge paper and painted with black soot distress paint. The colorful under wing was cut from Shimmer Sheetz.
The flower was made from scratch. I used Tim's Jumbo Tattered Florals die to cut all but the center (Cheery Lynn die). I have wanted to make a large flower for a long time, so this was a perfect time. I wanted a full flower, so I cut seven of the large layers. The first layer was cut from Suze Weinberg's Wonder Rubber and embossed with UTEE. (I can't begin to remember when I bought the wonder rubber, but this was the first time I used it. I had forgotten I had it.) The next layer is burlap. There are two layers of fabric from Tim's line (another previously uncut product) and one of his tissue paper. I wanted to make the flower quite full, but fabric and tissue paper don't stand up very well. I got the idea to use Wendy Vecchi's Clearly for Art moldable plastic. I cut out the flower twice and heated the petals so I could form them into dimensional petals. A little alcohol ink added color to these layers.These clear layers helped to lift the fabric layers. The flower center was also made from the Clearly Art.
To make the background, I added some stencil paste for dimension and distress paints for color. The center band was cut using a Cheery Lynn die. The sentiment is a Dyan Reaveley stamp from Ranger. The final touch was to add some bling stars and dots.
I am also entering this panel into these challenges: Vintage Journey -- dies and distress; Take a Word -- butterflies; Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge -- start from scratch; Classy Cards 'n Such -- pick a posy (use a handmade flower) [CCnC products include distress paints; Cheery Lynn dies, bling]; Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge -- let's be clear (used Clearly Art for the flower layers).
A special recognition goes out to the Funkie Junkie for sponsoring the CC3 challenge.

Magic Inside Us

This week the Bloggers Challenge is stencil it. I used Tim Holtz's stars stencil and a touch of bleach to stencil the panels on my card which is based on the Mojo  Monday tall and skinny sketch challenge.
The base card is kraft. The focal sentiment is from Artistic Outpost. Since Kraft Journal challenged us to show inside and out, I am also sharing the inside of my card. All of the stamps are also from Artistic Outpost. The Simon Says Stamp Wednesday challenge is happy birthday.
I am also entering my card into these challenges: Ink on my Fingers Sunday Challenge -- brown; Take a Word -- stars; Simon Says Monday challenge -- anything goes; Marks Finest Paper Friends of Speedy -- up in the sky; and Word Art Wednesday --anything goes.